Wake up to Reality
by Heather Kaylie
Summary: There are 52 cards in a deck plus the jokers and there are 52 clow cards. What if there were 2 joker clow cards? What if they gave you the power to travel between dimensions? What if a huge cardcaptors fan traveled to Sakura's world? BASED ON ENG. ANIME!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:Hey guys it's me again :D So first off I'd like to apologize for not updating my other story but my guy friend borrowed the game after he read my story and has yet to return it to me (*pout*) and I also got a really great new story idea :D if I do say so myself anyway hahaha...(*sweat*). Second, I want to let you know that this is based on the ANIME not the MANGA for obvious reasons (those who know, know). Third, same drill as before, I need honest critiques! Don't be scared to hurt my feelings, believe me that's not easily done. And lastly thanks for taking the time to read my story :D please enjoy!**

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"Oh crap! I'm gonna be late _**again**_!" I yell to myself while jumping out of bed. I run around my room looking for something to wear, but my room being a huge mess could pose something of a problem. I manage to find a pair of socks, which I put on right away, a pair of jeans and a ponytail holder, but my shirts are no where to be found.

"Mom!" I shout, rushing to the top of the stairs in my flannel PJ bottoms and black tank top. I pull my black hair up into a high ponytail to get it off my tan colored face.

"MOM! Where're all my shirts?"

"In the wash!" She calls from the general direction of the kitchen. "And aren't you suppose to be half way to school right now? You better get going!"

I groan and run back to my room, where I change into my jeans, grab my sweater and lunch money, and find myself running out the front door in a matter of 21 seconds. I must add that this is a personal best for me.

"Bye!" I call over my shoulder. I do this for mostly my mom seeing as my dad is at work right now and my little sister is probably at her locker at this very moment. I run as fast as my feet can go, and I surprise myself by making it through the front doors right before the first bell. I sigh in relief and head to my locker.

"Hey Kayla!" Someone calls from down the hall. I turn and see my friend, Stacy Hartman, come walking toward me. I smile at her and spin my locker com.

"Is that the way you greet your best friend?" She says while leaning on the locker beside mine. "I am heart broken Kay."

I laugh. "Alright I'm sorry, I'll try that again. Good morning Stacy dear, and how are you this beautiful day?"

She nods her approval. "Very good, thank you for asking." We stare at each other for a second, then bust out laughing.

"So," she says when we've calmed down. "What are you doing at school so early?"

"Early?" I say while grabbing my text book and closing my locker. "I barely beat the first bell!"

"Yeah," Stacy says without blinking. "Why're you here so early?"

I shoot her a sarcastic look. "Oh ha ha, very funny. Excuse me while I laugh my way to class."

She smiles and follows me, since we have class together. She turns to me and says, "I like your tank top. Make it in computer class?"

I look down at my shirt and smile softly. I'm wearing my cardcaptor shirt that I made. It has all of my favorite caracters on it; Sakura, Li, Madison, Kero, Julian and of course Tori. I feel myself blush slightly as I look at his face. I really don't care if he _**is**_ a cartoon, he's still my dream guy! Maybe if he went to my school I wouldn't mind this place so much...

"Earth to Kayla! Have you heard a thing I've said?"

"Huh?" I say, blinking.

"Never mind," she says while turning away from me. "Obviously you don't care about this clow card thing I found in the hallway so-"

"CLOW CARD?" I shout while I practically jump on her to grab the card.

"Hey settle down," she says while laughing. "Unlike you, I'm easily breakable!"

I stop and smile sheepishly. I don't know how, but I always seem to forget that I'm five foot eleven inches and she's only five foot four inches. Her blonde haired, blue eyed head comes to about my shoulders on a good day. Must be her giant personality that throws me off. I hear people laughing, and turn to see the "popular" crowd staring at us. I blush and look at the ground.

Stacy turns to where they are and glares at them. "Show's over, get lost."

I hear them start to walk to class but I don't raise my head. I'm still blushing when she sets the card in my hands. I feel my eyes bulge, and I quickly look around, not wanting to make spectacle of myself...again. Only when I see there is no one around do I act like the fan girl I am.

"Oh my gosh Stace! **_Look_**at it!" I squeal, my arms shaking in excitement. Stacy just laughs at me. The back of the card looks like the clow cards from the first season, where Sakura sets the them free, but it's a card I've never seen or heard of before. The picture is of a lot of clocks with a joker looking guy in the middle. The clocks make me think it's a time card that someone might have tried to make, but under it it says "The Travel".

"Huh," Stacy says while looking over my shoulder. "I guess someone didn't know what to put for the picture."

"No kidding," I say. "You'd think they'd put a train or car or something."

Stacy shrugs. "Well it's not our problem. Looks like no one is looking for it either. Why don't you keep it?"

I bite my lip. "I don't know... this looks extremely well made. If I lost a card like this I would be heart broken."

"And you'd also be screaming and crying and looking for it like a mother looking for a lost child. No one is acting like that right now, so I think it's okay if you take it. Besides, if a person doesn't care enough to try and keep it safe then they don't deserve to have it. You'd take much better care of it"

I hold onto the card for a few more seconds before slipping it into my pocket.

"Come on," I say while pulling her along with me. "We have English right now."

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"Kayla, wait up! I need to ask you something before you go home," Stacy says while jogging up to me. It's the end of school and it's a Friday, so I was kind of in a rush to get home. I stop and wait for Stacy to catch up.

"What's up Stacy?"

"Nothing, just wanted to ask if you wanted to come over to my house this weekend. We can pig out on junk food and have a cardcaptors marathon. What do you say?"

I shoot her a huge grin. "Stace, that's like asking a kid if they want a brownie! Of course I want to spend the weekend with you!"

She laughs. "Well just ask your mom and call me when you get an answer, okay?"

I shrug. "I'm sure she'll say yes. Last week I did the house chores so it's Jullie's turn and I haven't been anywhere in forever!"

"Cool," Stacy says while her mom honks the horn from the parking lot. "Gotta go, you remember what happened the last time I made my mom wait!"

I shake my head and wave at her and her mom while they drive away. When they're gone, I start to head home. Some people think that living in a small town has it's advantages... and I'm not one of those people. I hate living here so much. Nothing exciting ever happens, you see the same people all the time, even the gossip stays the same! I'm kind of happy that this is my last year in high school and in this town, but I doubt that a city would be any better. More crowded maybe but not better.

"I wish something _**interesting**_ would happen here," I sigh. I look around to see if saying it out loud did anything, but everything is the same as before. The same houses, same mowed lawns, same flower beds, same people, same same same. I kick a rock and that's when I notice it.

"**_Another _**clow card?" I say out loud while picking it up. Again, the back is the same red color as it was in the first season and again it's a card I've never heard of. This time there's a picture of the stars and the same joker looking guy in front of the stars and on the bottom it says "The Dimension".

_"Okay this is getting weird..."_ I think while looking around, and sure enough there's no one in sight. A shiver runs down my spine, and for some reason I feel like I should leave it where it is, that if I take it with me something bad might happen...

"For the love of..." I say as I put the card in my pocket. I'm not going to let some strange feeling scare me. I head homeward again, and before I know it I'm inside the front door.

"Mom! I'm home!" I yell while taking off my shoes.

"Hey honey, I'm in the kitchen!" She says. I head toward her voice.

"Mom can I go and stay at Stacy's this weekend?" I ask while sitting at the table.

My mom looks at me with sad eyes and somehow I know what's coming up. "I'm sorry Kayla, but your sister has a tournament this weekend and you have to do the chores."

I groan in frustration. "But mom, I did the chores **_last week_**! It's not fair to make me do them again!"

"I know sweetie, but we don't have a choice."

"Why do _**I **_always have to change _**my **_plans..." I mumble to myself.

"What was that?" My mom asks with a slight edge in her voice. She didn't hear what I said but probably knew that I was talking back.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." I say while getting up so I can go to my room and sulk there.

My mom has a different idea. "No, what did you say?"

"Why do you need to know?" I say and then cover my mouth. I didn't mean to say that out loud, but it just slipped out.

My mom's face grows harder by the second. "Because I'm your mother and I need to know why my kids are talking back to me."

I sigh and sit back down, trying to think of a way to cool the situation. I don't know why, but my mom and I have been arguing a lot these past few months. Over the silliest things too, like where the milk has to be in the fridge and how the windows should be cleaned. Stacy thinks it has to do with me going to college that's about ten hours away, and that this is my mom's way of telling me that she wants me to stay. I **_try _**to see it that way, but I think she just might be hitting menopause.

"What did you say?" My mom says.

_"Crap, did I say that outloud?"_I think to myself, outloud I say, "What do you mean what did I say?"

"What did you say when you were about to leave?"

I sigh in relief. "I was just asking myself why I always have to change my plans."

"When was the last time you had to change your plans for us?" she says. I can still hear the edge in her voice.

"Um, like yesterday. I wanted to go to the library to pay off my fine, but you told me I couldn't because...I don't even remember what you said, but I'm sure it had to do with you and dad going somewhere. The point is, you always seem to try and keep me at home and I don't know why."

"Kayla, we asked you to stay home yesterday because your father and I had some business to do in town."

"And I couldn't take a five minute walk to the library to pay off my fines?" I say, feeling myself starting to get angery. Even though I don't want to fight with her again, I feel my defences start to rise along with my voice. "Aren't you the one whose always telling me to be responsible? How can I do that when you're always putting limits on me?"

"Kayla-"

"I'm almost eighteen, mom, and you still have me on a curfew? Do you know how embarassing it is to hang out with my friends and have to leave early and tell them if I'm late going home I'll be _**grounded**_? I need my freedom! I'm not always going to be here and I'm not you! I won't make _**you're **_mistakes so let me make my _**own**_!"

"Kayla Elizabeth Parker , that is **_enough_**!" My mom says. I back down at the sound of my full name, but I'm still fuming inside.

"Kayla," my mom starts. "I don't want to fight with you again-"

"Then why'd you ask me to stay?" I snap back.

"_**But**_," she continues on as if I haven't spoken. "If you want to talk about these things then we will. However we will do that when we are both calmed down and when your father is here so we can all reach an understanding."

"Why does dad have to have a say?" I yell while geting up. "He's **_never_** here! He'll just agree with what ever you tell him and everything will stay the same! **_Everyday _**it's the same thing after the same thing! I'm getting **_sick_** of it! _**I wish I was anywhere but here**_!"

With that last sentance the shiver that ran up my spine when I picked up the second card comes back, but I don't stop to think about it. I stomp my way to my room.

"Kayla, get back here!" my mom shouts, and I slam my door shut in response. I flop onto my bed and scream into my pillow for a good five minutes. When I'm finished, I take out the two clow cards and just stare at them. The joker on them seems to be mocking me and I'm half tempted to rip them to pieces, but I just lay them beside my pillow one on top of the other. I groan. Now I have to call Stacy and tell her I can't vist this weekend and probably not for a long time, seeing as I'm probably going to be grounded until I move out. I stare at the cards and laugh.

"I wish these cards actually worked!" I say while sitting up. I face toward my pillow and put the cards on top of it, each of them beside the other. "Travel and Demension, take me someplace far away! Release and dispell!" I touch both the cards with my right hand. I wait for a moment, but nothing happens.

"What did I think was going to happen?" I mumble to myself. I get off my bed and start heading for the door, resolved on my punishment, when it happens.

I notice a slight glow on the door. I turn around and see the cards floating above my bed, and they're glowing. At first the cards are the only things glowing, but then the light starts to get brighter and bigger, expanding from the cards to the air.

"What's going on?" I say, but can barely hear myself. A huge gust of air is circulating throughout the room, sending my clothes and trinkets flying everywhere. As the light grows closer and closer to me I back into the door. I try to turn the doornob but it won't go. When the light is right in front of me I close my eyes.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the wind stops, but I keep my eyes closed hoping that it was all a dream. That I fell asleep while I was mad and that the light and the wind didn't happen.

"Who is she?" a voice asks someone. It sounded like a little girl and I think I've heard that voice somewhere before...

"I have no idea," says another voice. I open my eyes and I almost faint.

"Y-you're...!"

"I'm Sakura Avalon," says the girl. "How did you get into my room?"

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**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:Hey guys it's me again :D but really who else would it be ;) I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I can tell you that I'm having fun writing it :D I liked how I poked some fun at myself in Chapter 1 :D It's when Stacy says "Guess they didn't know what to put for the picture" when she gives the Travel card to Kayla. I honestly had no idea on what to put! So I just kind of put a bunch of clocks and called it good... (*sweat*) So enough of my babaling, here's the new installment :D Like before, when you review try be an honest critque so I know what to do differently next chapter :D Please enjoy!****

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"OHMYGOSHYOU'RESAKURAAVALON!" I scream. Sakura flinches at my volume, and so does...

"OHMYGODIT'SKERO!" I shout even louder. Kero is looking at me like he's half tempted to slap me, and I probably need it. After all this has to be a dream. There is no way that these characters are real! I mean they're just cartoon characters for cryin' out loud! I look around the room, trying to get myself to calm down. Bad idea.

"OHMYGOSHI'MINSAKURA'SROOM!" I shout even louder then before, my arms shaking in excitement.

"What's with all the racket squirt?" A voice asks from the other side of the door which I'm standing in front of. My heart beat starts to race and my breathing comes in short gasps. I turn my head slowly and come face to face with...

"Oh my gosh," I whisper breathlessly. "It's Tori..."

He looks at me for a second, then leans around me to talk to Sakura. "Hey squirt, can you tell your friend to keep it down? I have homework to do."

_"Oh my God,"_ I think while I sway a bit. The room seems to be tilting. _"Tori is **thisclose **to me!"_

"Stop calling me squirt!" Sakura says, getting off of her bed. "And I have no idea who she is, she just kind of appeared- Hey watch out! She's gonna fall!"

I feel the room spin out of control, then a pair of arms are holding me up.

"Whoa, she's heavy...!" Tori says, but I barely hear him. I wonder why everything is starting to go black...

"I think she fainted..." I hear Sakura say.

_"Maybe that's why everything is so muted and dark,"_ I think to myself.

"Thanks for pointing that out Captain obvious..." Tori says. I can feel him picking me up and setting me somewhere. Sakura's bed maybe?

"Why do you always have to be mean to me...?" She says a little louder then before. She must be yelling at him. I feel myself smile a little.

_"Yep, they're definitely Sakura and Tori."_

"Hey, I think she's smiling..." I hear Kero say.

"Maybe she's laughing at Sakura..." Tori says with a laugh of his own.

"Please, if she's laughing at anyone it has to be you Tori..." Sakura says. I can almost imagine her sticking her tounge out at him.

"Whatever, hey what's she wearing...?" Tori says.

"It's called a tank top, Tori..." Saukra says. I faintly hear her laughter which is followed by a small, "Ouch...!" I guess he must have hit her.

"I know that much squirt... What I mean is why does she have our faces on her shirt...?"

The air around me seems to shift, almost like they've all gotten closer to me.

"Hey yeah..." I hear Sakura say. Her voice is a little louder so I guess they did move closer. "There's me, and you, and Madison, and Li, and Julian, and you too Kero!"

"Wait a second, let me see..." Kero says. "Ahh...! It **_is _**me...! Wait why does it say 'Cardcaptors' on it...? Do you think she knows...?"

"No way..." Sakura says. "I haven't seen her around anywhere before today..."

"Yeah but how did she know our names...?" Kero says.

"She knew your names...?" Tori asks.

"And she knew yours too..." says Kero. "Before she fainted I heard her say your name..."

Even though my eyes are closed, I can feel them staring at my face.

"Who is she...?" I hear Sakura say. Then the blackness consumes everything and I no longer hear them talking...

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"Hey, are you awake?" I hear a voice ask. I'm too sleepy to try and figure out who it is, so I moan in response.

The voice giggles. I can probably rule out that it's my dad. "Is that a yes of no?"

"No," I mumble into my pillow. "Just ten more minutes Jullie..."

"Jullie?" The voice says. "My name is Madison, not Jullie. I thought you'd know me too, just like you knew Sakura, Kero and Tori."

"Quit playing around Jullie..." I lazily lift my head up off the pillow. The girl's face is barely two inches from mine.

"Hi there," she says with a big smile.

"AHH!" I shout, sitting upright and backing up into the wall.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" She says, moving back and that's when I get a good look at her.

"Hey," I say while pointing at her. Yeah I know great manners on my part. "You're Madison Taylor!"

She laughs. "That's right! Wow, so they were telling the truth. I wonder if you'd be able to tell who Li and Julian are."

"Li Showron? And Julian Star?" I say, feeling the excitement build up inside me again.

She nods. "What can you tell me about them? Like just on your own?"

"Li Showron is ten, no he must be twelve now. Anyway he's in your and Sakura's class, where he sits behind Sakura. He has brown hair and amber eyes. He's a descendant of Clow Reed, and when Sakura first became a card captor he showed up and he didn't like her, but as time passed he started falling for her. Julian Star is nineteen years old now and is in the same grade as Tori. Him and Tori are best friends. He has silver hair and dark green eyes. Sakura use to have a crush on him until she told him about how she felt and he rejected her. After that she started to fall for Li and they got together. Julian is also the human form of Yue, the second guardian spirit of the clow cards." Believe it or not, I manage to say all this in one breath...Okay maybe two.

Madison just stares at me. She usually seems pretty cool with everything but I think I probably weirded her out.

"I'm sorry if I'm weirding you out..." I say looking out the window.

"No it's okay," she assures me. "It's more curiosity then anything else."

I laugh weakly. "You don't have to be nice. If I were you, I'd probably be calling the cops." I turn back to her and smile.

She smiles in return. "Okay, I'll admit. I considered it." We both laugh.

"So," I say. "This is really Sakura's house, huh? This _**isn't **_a dream?"

"Well, I can't tell you if this is a dream or not, but this **_is _**Sakura's house."

I shake my head. "How did this happen?"

Madison smiles and stands. "That's what we want to know. Come on," she grabs my arm and tries to pull me up, but seeing as she's less then half my size, I have to stand up by myself.

"Where are we going," I ask while we walk out of the room and down the stairs.

"To the living room," she says. "That's where everyone else is."

When we reach the living room I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming again. Sitting on the couch are Julian, Li and Sakura with Kero floating near her. Tori is sitting on the love seat and Madison joins him. Seeing all my favorite characters together in one place is kind of mind boggling. Especially since I just found out that they're real. There's a chair from the kitchen in the middle of the room where the coffee table should be. I look at all the serious faces in the room and one word goes through my mind.

_"Interrogation..."_

"Have a seat," Kero says. I obediently sit in the chair. After a tense second of silence, Tori finally speaks up.

"Who are you? How do you know so much about us?"

I look at him, then look at the floor blushing.

_"Why does he have to be so good looking?"_ I think.

"Well?" Li says impatiently. I find myself smiling, despite myself.

_"That is definitely Li."_

I hear someone walking towards me and suddenly Li's face is right in mine. I can say this much, he doesn't look happy.

"You think this is funny?" He yells. I can tell he's trying to be intimidating, but he looks so cute I have to laugh.

"Li, stop it," Sakura says from the couch. "She just woke up from fainting yesterday! Leave her alone."

Li grumbles to himself but he goes to sit beside Sakura again. That's when I tune into what Sakura just said.

"I've been asleep since _**yesterday**_?" I say lifting my head and look at them.

Kero nods. "And while you were sleeping, I sensed a great magical energy from you that kept growing. Now that you're awake the growing has stopped, but it's still very powerful. It even rivals Sakura's power. So that leaves me wondering who you are and what you want."

"Seriously? I have magical powers?" I ask completely ignoring Kero's last sentence.

Kero looks at me quizzically. "You mean you don't know?"

I shake my head no.

"How can someone with such strong powers have gone so long without knowing about them?" He asks to no one in particular.

"Well, where I come from there is no such thing." I say. Everyone's eyes turn to me.

"I've had enough of this beating around the bush crap," Tori says while getting up. He stands over me when he says his next sentence. "Who are you? How did you get here? What do you want?"

I swallow nervously. He's much more intimidating than Li. "M-my name is Kayla Parker, a-and I don't **_know _**how I got here..."

He leans in closer and I feel my heart pound. More with fear then with the fact that he's getting closer to me. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I **_mean _**I **_don't _****_know_**! Or do you not understand English?" I yell. Tori backs up, surprised. I'm surprised too. I guess I've been hanging out with Stacy too long. When someone tries to back her into a corner, she fights back with volume and sarcasm.

_"Stacy,"_I think sadly, feeling myself deflate. Out loud I say, "I wanna go home..."

After yet another silence, Madison speaks. "Where do you live? If you tell us we can try to help you..."

My eyes start to sting with tears. She's probably the only one who's been somewhat normal with me, and the fact that she's trying to help me out makes me want to cry. I close my eyes and clench my fists. I don't want to cry in front of these people.

"Not here that's for sure..." I say.

"How do you figure that?" Julian asks. I jump at his voice. He hasn't said a word since I've seen him.

"Well where I come from you guys are-" I stop myself from going on. They'd probably think I'm crazy... well crazier, if I said that where I come from they're all cartoon characters.

"We're...?" Madison says. I stay quiet.

"What are we where you come from?" Julian asks.

"I don't want to say..." I mumble

"Why not?" Madison asks.

"Because you won't believe me even if I told you..." I say.

"Try us," Tori says. I glare at him. I'm really not liking him right now.

"No," I say while standing up quickly. Then I pretend to swoon. Just like yesterday, apparently anyway, Tori catches me before I hit the ground.

He grunts as he lifts me. "She hasn't gotten any lighter since yesterday."

"Well she _**is **_almost as tall as you Tori," Madison says.

"Don't you think she looks kind of like mom Tori?" Sakura says. "I mean if her hair wasn't black and if her skin was lighter."

Tori scoffs. "Don't put her on the same level as mom."

It takes all my restraint to not hit him. If I want my plan to work, I have to pretend to be unconscious.

"I'll take her upstairs," he says, and I can feel him moving us.

"I'll come too," Sakura says.

I can feel Tori shaking his head. "I think I can handle this squirt."

I feel us going up the stairs and I hear the door open when we reach Sakura's room. He sets me down gently. I'm just about to open my eyes when I hear him sigh.

"The squirt was right," he mumbles. "She does look like mom. Long wavy hair and all..." I hear his foot steps go out of the room and the door closes. It doesn't click so I know that it's not closed all the way. It doesn't really matter. I'm not staying any longer.

I sit up and reach into my pocket and sure enough the cards are there. There is now no doubt in my mind that these cards are the real deal. I mean, how else was I able to get here?

"How did I do it last time...?" I wonder out loud. I think back to my fight with my mom and suddenly feel sad. I shouldn't have said what I said, and now i might never see her again. What I would give to be there right now...

I shake my head and place the cards on the pillow.

"Okay," I whisper. "How did I do it again... I said 'Travel and Dimension take me anywhere but here' I think. Then I touched them with my hand..." I take a deep breath.

"Travel and Dimension! Take me back home! Release and dispel!" I touch them again and the glowing light and wind comes faster then the last time. Once again, it goes from the cards to the air and I close my eyes.

When I open them I'm surprised to see that I'm not at home but in a desert waste land of sorts. There's nothing but sand and sand dunes everywhere I look.

I groan. "Where am I now?"

Then I hear something. I listen closely and I'm able to figure out that it's people talking. I move toward the sound of the voices and they become clearer as I get higher up on the sand dune.

"...how we got here!" I hear a girl say to someone. I frown. I know that voice...

"Well who else could have done it?" I hear another say. When I get to the top of sand dune, I scream a little. The five people turn toward me. Then a little floating stuffed animal peeks around one of them.

"**_You_**!" Kero says. "You have some serious explaining to do, kid!"

I laugh nervously. How am I gonna get myself out of this mess?

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**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:Hey guys I understand that there was some confusion in my last chapter and for that I apologize (*bow*) I was trying to be subtle at some things thinking that you readers would catch it (I personally don't like when an author throws out the obvious) but it seems that it was so subtle that it it was over looked (*sweat*) Anyway I'll try to answer the "When does this story take place?" question this chapter. Again I'm going to try and be subtle about it but I'll try to make it more obvious then the last chapter. As for the Sakura and Li not blushing thing I apologize once again, it was another thing that I thought you readers would catch. See Sakura and Li weren't in the room. Only Madison was in there and the others were downstairs watching Sailor Moon or something. I figured that they didn't all need to watch Kayla to see when she wakes up, and I also thought that Madison would be more easy going about Kayla knowing what she knows without having met any of them. That's why I had her take Kayla downstairs instead of having everyone crammed into Sakura's little room. So I'm sorry once again and I'll work on making my subtlety more obvious (?) in this chapter :D Speaking of which you should know the drill by now. Tell me what's wrong and I'll work on it, and please enjoy :D**

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"Kayla, did you do this?" Sakura asks when I reach the bottom of the sand dune. I do a quick sweep at everyone and sigh in relief when I see that they're all fine. A little bit of sand in their hair, but mostly fine. That's when I notice they're all glaring at me. Well not Madison, Sakura or Julian, they just look a little upset.

I press my pointer fingers together and look at the ground. "I... I _**think **_so, but...I'm not exactly sure... **_how _**I did it..."

"So you used your magic **_without _**knowing what it could have did to us?" Kero yells at me. I flinch at his tone.

"N-no!" I say quickly. The rest of my sentence comes out in a rush. "I knew they would take me to a different place, but last time they only took me even though my mom was in my house too, and they took me into your place even though I thought you guys were only cartoon characters and-"

"Whoa, slow down," says Kero. "What do you mean _**they**_?"

"And what do you mean you thought we were _**cartoon **_characters?" Tori adds. Everyones eyes are glued to me, and I continue to stare at the ground.

"Um...well...where should I start? Um... When I was at school, my friend found a Clow card there called the 'Travel'. Since I'm a fan of a show called cardcaptors, which stars you guys, she gave it to me. At the time I thought that all of you and the Clow cards were only a cartoon, and I thought that it was just a card that someone made. So I kept it. Then on my way home I found another one called the 'Demension' and again I kept the card..."

"Then what happened?" asks Madison when my voice trails off. Everyone else seems to have lost their voice.

I sigh and continue on, still staring at the ground. "After I got home...things...happened and I went to my room. I placed the cards on my pillow and told the Travel card and the Dimension card to take my away from home. Of course I didn't think it would work, like I said magic doesn't really exist where I come from. At first nothing happened and I was about to leave the room when everything started to glow. I turned and the cards were floating and a light was emanating from them and it kept getting bigger and bigger. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, I was in Sakura's room..."

I take a quick glance up and see everyone staring at me with a "She's crazy!" look. Well, everyone but Tori who seems to be preoccupied with his watch for some reason.

I sigh and look at the ground again mumbling, "I knew you wouldn't believe me..."

They all stay silent for awhile, then Kero finally speaks.

"Let me see the cards..."

I reach into my pocket and pull them out. Kero looks at them over my shoulder.

"Hmm," he says. "I think I've seen these cards somewhere before..."

Now everyones eyes are on Kero.

"Where have you seen them Kero? Did Clow Reed really make these cards?" Sakura asks. I'm not going to lie, her doubt kind of stings.

"I'm thinking," Kero replies.

"Of course," Li mumbles. "We have to rely on the _**forgetful **_guardian..."

Kero turns and glares at him. "Listen kid, just because your going out with my new master doesn't mean that I'll take you bad mouthing me!"

Sakura and Li turn three different shades of red and look at anything but each other. I steal yet another glance at Tori and see his jaw is clenched. Guess he doesn't approve. I smile when I look back at Sakura and Li, who are steal little glances of their own at each other.

_"I knew they would always be together! It was so obvious from the second movie. They are so cute!"_

"AHA!" Kero exclaims. I jump about ten feet into the air because I was in my own world again and he yelled this right beside my ear.

"Ow..." I mumble to myself, rubbing my ear. I look up and see Tori and Li trying not to laugh at me. I shot both of them a glare before looking back at Kero.

"Those are the Joker cards!" He says, looking straight at me.

"Joker cards?" I say, still rubbing my ear. "Am I suppose to know what that means...?"

"It's so obvious now!" He mumbles to himself. "Why didn't I see this before?"

"What Kero?" Sakura asks him.

"Yeah spit it out!" Li says.

Kero clears his throat before he goes on. "Clow Reed crated these two cards along with the other fifty-two that Sakura has. However, unlike the other cards he never seemed to use them. He said that they were defective..."

"Defective?" I say.

Kero nods. "Clow Reed told me that when he tried to use the Travel and the Dimension by themselves they were useless, but when he used them together they gave him the power to travel through time and space itself. He also said that they were hard to control, like they had a mind of their own. Every time he would use them he said it would take him a whole day to regain his magical energy. Sometimes he would disappear for days on end and show up saying he went to a different world where the time flow was different. However, in the end, he stopped using them completely and they were soon forgotten. When Sakura set the cards free two years ago," He glances at Sakura then keeps going. "These two cards probably traveled to different worlds before you found them and used them. That could also be the reason you fainted yesterday. You've never used your magical energy before, and the cards took so much of it, it's a wonder you had all that energy to yell."

"So what does this mean for me?" I ask. "I mean with the cards. What do I have to do now?"

"Well Sakura has captured and changed all fifty-two Clow cards into Sakura cards. I think you'll have to change those two cards into Kayla cards, and become their master."

"Why can't Sakura do it?" I say while looking at her. She jumps a little at her name. I gotta admit it feels weird to say her name and have her look at me when before when I said it I was talking about her with Stacy.

"You're the card captor right?" I continue. "Well here, take them." I toss the cards toward her but then they fly back toward me and into my hand.

"See?" Kero says. "They have a mind of their own, and for some reason they choose you."

I look at the cards and glare at them. "If I had known how much trouble you were going to be, I'd have left you on the ground." The Jokers just seem to laugh at me, and I feel like they understand what I'm saying. Which is weird because they're just cards but the more I think about it the more sure I become. Like maybe they themselves knew how much trouble they were going to be and they tried to warn me beforehand when I picked up the Dimension card and got those weird chills. And since I didn't listen they feel no pity for me...

"...and that's what you should do."

"Huh?" I say looking up at Kero.

He glares at me. "You didn't hear a single word I said?"

I shake my head slowly, hoping he doesn't yell in my ear again. Seriously, I might go deaf.

He sighs in frustration. "I _**said **_that you have to be able to control them in order to turn them into Kayla cards. Now there are going to be a few problems, some big and some not so big. First, since you have just recently realized that you have magical powers, it's going to take awhile for you to control your _**own **_magical energy let alone the cards. Second is that you need to practice as much as you can in order to control your magic and to learn how to control the cards. Third is that it's hard to practice when it takes you one whole day on your world to recover your magical energy-"

"Well she should be able to use it now," Tori says. Everyone turns to him.

"But it's only been half an hour at the most since we got here!" I say. He gives me a hard look and I level it with one of my own. I don't care if I like him, he's not going to make me feel like I'm stupid.

After a short silence, he looks at his watch. "No, it's been about half an hour on **_this _**world. On our world it's been about a day."

"Seriously?" I ask, moving closer to him. I look at his watch and see the minute hand going by like a second hand. The little second hand is spinning out of control.

"Whoa!" I say. So this is why he was looking at his watch all this time. I wonder why he didn't mention it earlier...

"Because I wanted to know how we got here in the first place." Tori says. I jump back and he looks at me and smiles mischievously. "You need to learn to not say your thoughts out loud."

I stare at him with my mouth wide open. I close it and glare at him before turning back to Kero.

"So we can leave now right? I mean, I have to practice everyday right? So how long will it be before I can control my powers? One month? Three years?"

Kero looks at me with a serious expression. "That right there is going to be the fourth problem. You see the last time Clow Reed used the cards, he was gone for almost a whole year. When he made it back he stuck the cards in the back of the book and never touched them again. When I asked him about it, he told me that when he had gone to a different world the flow of time there was so fast he could barely keep up. He said that seconds on that world was like days on ours. Then he told me he was lucky to make in back home, because when he realized that it had almost been a year our world time since he had been there he was starting to fade. He quickly transported back to our world and swore to never use them again..."

"So what are you saying, Kero?" Madison asks. How come every time we seem to lose our voices she's the one who talks? Tori, who is standing near me, starts to chuckle to himself. I elbow him hard in the stomach before moving away from him. I don't say my thoughts out loud...at least not all the time... I think...

"I saying," Kero answers, looking at me again. "That Kayla has to master her own powers **_and _**the cards within a year of our time **_and _**her time or we'll start to fade away from existence..."

Now everyone is looking at me. "Eep..." is the only word I can manage to say. This is a lot of responsibility to place on a girl who just recently found out she had magical powers.

"Oh great," Li says, rolling his eyes. "We have to place our existance in the hands of **_her_**?"

"Hey I'm not too thrilled about this either Li!" I yell at him. We glare at each other. Jeez, first Tori and now Li. Are all the guys in card captors jerks?

"Can we get a move on?" Tori says, looking at his watch again. "We've almost reached half a day already just standing here."

"But we have so many questions to answer!" I say turning back to him, totally forgetting about the glaring contest between me and Li. "Like what time is it on my world? Do our worlds have the same time flow? What about the traveling thing? How come you guys came with me this time? What if I accidentally leave someone behind? How will we get that person back? What if-"

Tori puts his hand over my mouth to keep me from talking anymore and I almost faint again, but I know it's not from the loss of my magical energy. After all it's been a day and a half already.

"And we'll answer all those questions when we get to another world where the time flow is slower." He says, his hand still on my mouth. I blush even though I try so hard not to. He doesn't seem to notice, or if he does he doesn't acknowledge it.

"He's right," Kero says, "We need to get out of here and worry about the details later."

I nod and Tori takes his hand from my mouth. I sigh and hold the cards in front of me. I'm about to say the words again when I'm aware of the others looking at me.

"Turn around," I say to them, folding my arms across my chest. "I'll feel even more stupid if you guys look at me. It's bad enough that I have to say the words out loud..." To my surprise, they all turn around. I sigh again before saying the... magic words I guess they would be called.

"Travel and Dimension! Take me to a different world where the time flow is slower! Release and dispell!" and once again the wind and glowing starts. As I close my eyes when the light reaches me I can only think of one thing.

_"I hope this works..."_

_

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**End of Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey guys :D First off I'd like to say sorry for my really long pause between the last chapter and this one, but I had school stuff to worry about :S That being said I hope you enjoy this new chapter. And you know what do do by now. Please review honestly! And now the long awaited chapter ;)****

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Is it weird that I kept my eyes closed for longer then necessary? Honestly, I didn't want to open them and see that we were missing someone. I mean really, I don't even know how my powers work, much less what I would have to do to get that person back. After awhile I realize I'm going to have to face reality sooner or later, so I take a deep breath through me nose, intending to sigh before opening my eyes, when I smell...salt? I take a few more tentative sniffs.

_"That's defiantly salt..."_ I think. I finally open my eyes and gasp at the sight in front of me. Before me is a beautiful blue ocean. Close to the shore I see seagulls flying around and am surprised that I didn't hear them. Futher out where the water is a little bit deeper, I see rocks jutting out. Everytime a wave hits them it explodes into a mist that sparkels in the mid-day sun. I don't know why, but I feel like I've seen this beach somewhere before. However I've never been to an actual beach in my entire life, so I'm wondering why I feel this way.

_"I better go and find the others,"_ I think while shaking my head. I go to take a step, but something feels...wrong. This is when I notice that I'm sitting down. I frown and look down at myself. Then I hear someone scream a really girly scream.

"I think I hear Kayla!" I faintly hear someone say. I blush when I realize that I'm the one who screamed. I look to my right and see that behind me there is a cliff that rounds into a turn. I glance down at myself again and groan.

"Are you okay?" I turn to see Julian walking toward me.

"No, I'm not okay..." I pout. "My favorite jeans are torn to shreds!"

"What do you mean?" Julian asks. He's too far away to notice the thing that seems so obvious to me now.

I lift my legs up so he can see, or what is supposed to be my legs.

"Apparently my pants don't fit around my _**fin**_."

His eyes go wide for a second, but he seems to catch himself and chuckles at my expression before saying, "I'm going to tell Tori and Madison that I found you. Sakura, Li and Kero are missing. We were worried that they didn't come here with us, but this might explain what happened to them. Just hang out here for awhile."

"Like I have a choice," I say while rolling my eyes. I smile at him before he dissapears behind the corner.

_"Well at least _**one **_guy on cardcaptors is nice,"_ I think while looking down at myself. My tank top seems to be fine, for that I am greatful, but my jeans are as good as dead. They seem to to have split in the middle so instead of having 2 legs it has 1 big leg. I sigh and attempt to take my pants off but soon realize that it's difficult to do so with out standing. It's obvious that I'm going to need help getting them off. Tori's face flashes in my mind and I blush while shaking my head in hopes of shaking the thought away before it has time to take root. Madison is probably the only one I'd trust taking off my pants...

_"Okay, thoughts going in a weird direction! Time to think about something else..."_

I look around me and see some small rocks within arms reach. I grab one and throw it as far as I can and am disappointed that it only goes 3 feet in front of me. I frown and grab another rock and do the same thing, but it still goes to the same spot. I keep throwing more and more rocks, until a rock comes flying back at me and hits me in the forehead.

"Ow!" I say while rubbing my head. "What was **_that_**?"

"_**That **_was for throwing rocks at me!" a familiar vioce says while poking their head out of the water. At least I _**think **_it's a head, but then I realize it's not and who it is at the same time.

"Kero!" I say, my eyes bulging so much I'm surprised that they haven't popped out. "You're a-"

"I know, I know," he says with a sigh. "I'm a fish."

"A puffer fish!" I say, hoping that saying it out loud would make it seem real. It doesn't though, it only makes me sound crazy. Then I remember what Julian told me before he went off and turn to my right.

"Tori!" I yell. "Madison! Julian! I found Kero!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Kero yells angerly, splashing the water. "I don't want them to see me this way!"

"Too late for that," Tori says beside me. I jump slightly and turn to see him looking at me, one of his eyebrows lifted.

"What happened to you?" he asks. I don't like the tone in his voice and glare at him.

"Nothing," I say, throwing all my sarcasim at him. "I just turned into a mermaid that's all. What about you? Or do you normally look that weird?"

"At least I don't smell like fish," he replies before heading to Kero. I glare at his back.

"So the legendary Kerobaros," I hear Tori say. "Has been demoted to Kero the puffer fish."

"It's not like I wanted to be this way!" Kero says defensively.

"Is that Kero?" I hear Madison ask. I turn and see her and Julian walking toward my little section of beach.

"Madison!" I say while waving her over. She walks toward me and Julian heads to were Tori and Kero seem to be talking.

"What happened to your legs?" She asks when she gets close enough to me.

"You know as much as I do," I sigh. I look to where the guys are standing and see them involded in a deep looking conversation.

"Madison," I whisper. "I know this might sound weird but can you take my pants off for me?"

The look she gives me makes me want to laugh and apologize at the same time, but she finally says "Oh...kay...?"

I look at the guys again to see if they're looking and I notice Madison doing the same. This is probably as embarassing for her as it is for me. For her sake I hope no one notices... Okay it's for my sake too.

"Do you think you can hold yourself up?" she asks.

"I...I'll try," I reply while gulping.

_"Just think of it being like a chin up without the bar," _I think. _"Even though I could barely do _**one **_chin up in gym class..."_

I place my hands on either side of me, close my eyes, take a deep breath and put all my weight on my hands.

"What are you doing?" someone says. My eyes fly open and see the one person I didn't want to see.

"Nothing," I say while avoiding Tori's gaze. I glace at Madison to see her doing the same. I peek up at Tori and see him giving me a skeptical look.

"Don't give me that look!" I say. "We weren't doing anything!"

"Really? So I must have imagined Madison trying to take your pants off and you struggling to hold yourself 1 inch off the ground?"

I glare at him and whack him with my tail. "You don't have to be a jerk about it!"

"You could have asked for help."

I roll my eyes at him. "Oh really? What'd you expect me to say? 'Hey Tori, can you take my pants off?' In your dreams buddy."

He glances away quickly but not before I see him blush. I smirk to myself. Looks like I won this round.

"No," he starts after getting ahold of himself. "But I could have held you up while Madison took them off."

"Then be my guest," I say while holding my arms up and out. He sighs then moves behind me.

"Hope that tail didn't give you extra weight. I had enough problems carrying you before." He wraps his arms under mine and pulls me a good 3 feet off the ground.

"I'm not heavy, you're just weak," I say feeling Madison taking my ripped pants off. I try to focus all my energy into not blushing, but I don't think it's working too well.

"This coming from the girl who couldn't even hold herself up."

I turn to him and make a face. He chuckles slightly and I find myself looking into his eyes. His laugh is so warm and so are his eyes. This is the reason why I liked him on the anime, but having him laugh in front of me and having his eyes look into mine makes my heart melt.

"Um... Tori," Madison says. "You can put her down now. I've been done for 5 minutes."

Tori drops me as if Madison told him he was carrying a bag full of dirty dipers. All I can say is that I'm glad that the sand is soft...ish.

"Ow," is all I say until I notice my tail. It's a really pretty iridecint colour. It looks silver, but when the light hits it a certian way, it gives off a rainbow like effect.

"I like your tail Kayla," Madison says.

I smile at her. "Well thanks... I guess."

"Can't stand the smell tough," Tori comments.

"I think we've established that already Tori," I say. "Besides, shouldn't you be looking for Sakura and Li?"

"That's the reason why I came to get you," he replies. "We've got a problem."

"Problem?" Madison repeats.

"Yeah, a big problem." He sighs and stoops down to pick me up bridal style.

"W-what are you doing?" I stutter. I wrap my arms around his neck so I don't fall on the sand again.

"Taking you to the ocean," He replies. I look over his shoulder to see Madison following close behind.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because that's where my sister and that dweeb are. The puffer fish said they might be in trouble."

"What do you mean by 'trouble'?" I let go of his neck and air quote the word.

"It's better to have Kero tell you himself." Tori replies. I cross my arms over my chest and pout a little. I hate being out of the loop.

"One pouty mermaid here at your service," Tori while setting me down on where the waves hit the sand. When the waves hit my tail I can't help but smile and flap my fin up and down.

"She doesn't look pouty to me," Julian says. I shoot him a quick smile then turn to Kero.

"So I hear you think Sakura and Li are in trouble..."

Kero moves his whole body up and down so I assume that he's nodding. "Oh yeah. They deffinatly looked like they were in trouble."

"What'd you see?" Madsion asks.

"Well, when we opened our eyes and saw that we were under water, the first thought that went through our minds was to hold our breath and get to the surface. Only we couldn't really swim right. I couldn't hold my breath any longer and gulped in a mouth full of water. I thought that I was going to drown, but then I saw that I could breathe. I got Sakura and Li's attention and showed them we could breathe. It was then that we started noticing things. Their pants were ripped down the middle because they had fins instead of legs. They took off their pants and looked at me. They tried to tell me that I was a fish by using gestures, but I couldn't get what they were saying. Li got fed up and said out loud that I was a fish. That's when we found out we could talk under water too.

"So after all that," he continued. "We decided to start looking for you guys. They got the hang of swimming before I did and they went ahead without me. I was just catching up with them when these other half fish guys came out of no where and threatened them with some weird looking weapons. I was about to help when the guys took them away, mumbling something about taking them to 'King Triton'. When the were gone I started looking for you guys and followed Kayla's magical energy and the next thing I knew I was being pelted with rocks."

"At least we know they weren't left behind." Tori says. "So now we got to figure out where we are and what we're going to do to get Sakura and Li back."

"You can cross the first on off the list," I say, finally realizing why the beach looked so familiar. "I know exactly where we are..."

"Then where are we?" Tori asks impatiantly. I lock eyes with him before continuing.

"We're in Walt Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'."

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**End Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**** I DON'T OWN THE DISNEY OR CARDCAPTOR CHARECTERS! I ONLY OWN KAYLA! Okay now that that's out of the way, hey guys :D So by now you guys probably get that this is going to be kind of a series of crossover stories. It's kind of like Tsubasa and Kingdom Hearts I guess. I probably lean more to the Kingdom Hearts side, but I think it might be because I like the game more heh heh… so anyway this is the 'Little Mermaid' arc in my story and I honestly don't know how many arcs there are going to be. This is the part where I ask you readers for help. Please inbox me with some story ideas on where Kayla and the gang should go next :) I have a few good ideas on where they'll go but I don't have very much… so if you're interested, please inbox me because I don't want the plot for that arc to be ruined by having it written in the reviews. If you do suggest something on the reviews just put the place where they should go, and I'll come up with a story line for it if I know the other story well enough. So before you all rush to send me an e-mail of your idea, here is the latest instalment. Please review honestly and enjoy!**

"The little mermaid?" Tori asks, giving me a weird look.

"Isn't that a fairy tale?" Madison chimes in.

"Yeah," I reply. "It is. In my world, there was this guy named 'Walt Disney' and when he was alive he created a number of different movies based on childhood fairy tales. There was one about Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, even Beauty and the Beast. Even though some of the stories ended sadly, Disney's movies always had a happy ending. 'The Little Mermaid' is an example of this. In the story she-"

"Turns into a human for the prince she saved and fell in love with by trading her voice for legs with the sea witch. In order for her to live, she has to marry him. However the prince marries a different girl and the little mermaid is faced with a choice; she either has to kill the prince and live, or let _**him**_ live and turn into sea foam when the sun rises the very next day."

Kero, Madison, Julian and I raise an eyebrow in Tori's direction. It seems kind of weird that he'd know something like this.

He shrugs before replying. "I have a kid sister. I was in charge of bedtime."

I shake my head, trying to get a hold of myself. "_**Anyway**_, in the story she chooses to die because she loves him too much to kill him. However, in Disney's version, she's trades her voice in for legs and if she doesn't get the prince to kiss her before the sun sets on the third day, her legs will turn back into fins and she will be forced to become the sea witch's slave. The woman, who marries the prince in the actual story, is the sea witch pretending to be the little mermaid by using her voice. In the end, the witch is killed and the little mermaid marries the prince."

"I think I prefer _**that**_ ending to the actual one," Madison says with a dreamy sigh.

I turn and smile at her. "I do too. It was my favourite movie growing up."

"So now that we know where we are, what should we do next?" Julian asks.

Tori sighs and looks at me. "Kayla's going to have to go into the water and find Sakura and Li."

I'm about to agree, it's obvious that I'm the only one who can save the love birds, when I smell the salt again, and fear shoots through me. "Nuh uh!" I say while shaking my head vigorously. "I am _**not**_ going in there!"

"Why not?" Julian asks.

"You're not scared of the water are you?" Tori adds.

I glance at Madison, and see her nod. She's probably the only one who understands what I'm thinking.

"If she goes into the salt water," Madison starts. "The picture on her shirt will fade badly and, possibly degrade. Not only that, but when her shirt dries, there will be white spots on her black shirt from the salt."

"So?" Tori replies. "We'll find her a new shirt. Problem solved." He bends to pick me up again, but I push him away.

"This is my favourite shirt! I had to make it computer class! Do you know how _**long**_ it took me to make this?"

Tori sighs. "Well what are you going to do? The longer we wait here, the more danger Sakura and Li are put in. You're the only one who can save them."

I bit my lip. He has a point... suddenly I get hit with an idea.

"I'll swim in my bra!" I say loudly.

Everyone stares at me for a second, before looking away, and I can't help but notice that they all have a red face. Even _**Kero**_ turns red, and he's a _**fish**_! Then I start to blush, realizing how brazen that sounded.

"I-I mean, that's how other mermaids dress," I say, trying to clear things up. "A-and I think I should try and fit in… A-anyway, can you guys turn around so that I can… yeah."

They turn away without a word. I breathe a big sigh and quickly take my shirt off so I could get it over with. However, instead of the sports bra that I usually wear, I find I'm wearing a strapless bra that is made up of two big, iridescent coloured shells that match my tail. It reminds me more of a bikini top then a bra.

"Madison," I say, pulling myself out of my thoughts. "Can you keep my shirt for me?"

Madison nods and reluctantly turns back and holds out her hand. I can't help but roll my eyes at them. I was nervous at first because I didn't want to show off my underwear to them, but the shells look more like a bathing suit.

"Come on guys," I say while tossing my shirt at her. "It's really not so bad. Just think of it as me wearing a bikini top or something. It's nothing you don't normally see when you go to the beach, right?"

They all turn back slowly, but they all still have red faces.

"So, um," Tori says, clearing his throat. He glances at me for a second, and then looks away while blushing "You better get going then."

I look out into the water and groan under my breath. The deeper part is at least thirty feet away, and he honestly expects me to _**crawl**_ that far? Well, I wouldn't put it past him but… I glance up at him, putting the question in my stare rather than in words.

Tori looks like he wants to groan, sigh and roll his eyes all at the same time. He reluctantly walks over to pick me up, blushing the whole time. When his hand touches my bare shoulder, I blush as deeply as him and look away, afraid that if I look in his eyes I'll get lost in them like I did on the beach. I feel us moving and before I know it, we're in the deep part of the water. Part of me is saying "Finally!" but another part wishes that the walk could have been a little longer…

"Well, good luck," Tori says while dropping me in the water. It's a good thing that I can breathe underwater, or the water that went up my nose would have put me in a bad mood… oh who am I kidding?

"You are such a _**jerk**_!" I managed to spout through the water. He just laughs at me and starts toward the beach again. I glare at him then I get an idea. I swim a little closer to him and dive into the water, making sure to make as big of a splash as I can. I glance behind me and smile to see him soaked.

"Was that really necessary?" Kero says while swimming up behind me.

"No," I reply. "But I feel better."

"Well I'm not complaining. He had it coming."

I smile. After we swim for about fifty feet, I decide to stop and try and figure out where we're going. I don't know where we are because all I see is the sandy bottom and a lot of blue.

"Kero," I say while turning to him. "Can you take me to the place where Sakura and Li got taken?"

"Sure, it's just up ahead," he replies. He starts swimming ahead of me and I follow him, amazed that he seems to know exactly where he's going. Our swim is filled with an awkward silence, so I clear my throat and say the first thing that comes to mind.

"So, does Tori have a girlfriend?" I almost slap myself for asking that. I'm just making my feelings for him even _**more**_ obvious than before. If getting tongue tied around Tori and blushing around him wasn't a big enough clue, this will definitely tip Kero off for sure.

"Not that I know of," he says without turning. "Why?"

"_Is he playing with me or does he honestly not know what's going on?"_ I think while watching him swim naively. _"But then again, I am talking about Kero here…"_

"No reason," I mumble. The swim fills with an awkward silence again, but before I can think of something to say that won't embarrass me, Kero speaks.

"So what's it like where you come from?"

I freeze up for a second, surprised that he spoke to me first. I kind of thought we got off on the wrong foot… or fin in this case.

"Um," I reply. "It's alright…"

"Really?" he asks sceptically.

I frown at his tail. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking. If things were 'alright' in your world, then why would you travel to ours?"

Okay, maybe he's more observant then I gave him credit for…

I clear my throat. "Well, it _**is**_ okay. It's just things never change, you know? I hated that about my world. The problems that would pop up were just repeats of what already happened in the past. I mean, you'd think they'd learn after a while right? I don't know. I just wanted things to…change I guess…"

We swim a little ways before Kero spoke again. "Well the way I see it, if you want change to happen you have to get out there and _**make**_ it happen."

I laugh humourlessly. "Easy to say when you don't have a parent that wants to keep you from making mistakes that you might regret later."

"Is this parent really that bad?"

I sigh. "If you had asked me that question two days ago, I would have gone on and on until the end of the world on how unfair it was…but… now I'm kind of wishing I was there. I mean, it's awesome to have met you guys and I got the change I wished for but…"

We swim in silence for what seems like forever and a day, until he speaks again.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just wanted to get to know you. If we have to put our lives in your hands, I want to know if you're reliable."

I giggle under my breath. "Gee, thanks Kero. I knew you had no ulterior motives."

It could be my imagination, but I thought I saw him smile before he stopped abruptly. I almost bumped into him but I managed to stop in time. I'm not going to lie; I'm kind of amazed at my swimming skills right now. I guess those swimming lessons really paid off.

"This is where I saw them get taken," he says with so much confidence, I almost don't question him.

"How do you know?" I ask. I said I _**almost**_ don't question him.

"Because I can see the reefs from here."

I look around him and my jaw falls at the sight in front of me. If I thought the beach was pretty, then this is absolutely gorgeous. The reefs are bright vibrant colours and the hundreds of different fish swimming around are even brighter, but from where we are they look like little colourful dots. It's a nice change of scenery from the endless blue we swam in.

"What's the plan now?" Kero asks before I have time to ask him.

I clear my throat and try to think of something smart to say. I sigh when I can't think of anything.

"How about we ask those fish over there for directions?" I suggest. Kero looks at me funny, so I explain myself. "Well, I'm pretty sure you're not the _**only**_ talking fish in this ocean."

"You have a point…" Kero says. He nods at me and we swim toward the fish.

"Excuse me," I say to a dark blue and bright yellow angel fish. "Can you tell me where I can find-?"

The fish takes one look at me, and swims away as fast as it can.

"What was that about?" Kero asks.

"I'm not sure…" I reply, a frown of confusion on my face. I turn to another fish.

"Sorry to bother you but can you tell the way to-"

Once again, the fish swims away without so much as an explanation. This happens about five more times before I clue into the fact that maybe something bad has happened.

"I think they're too scared to talk to us…" I mutter under my breath.

"But _**why**_ is the real question," Kero replies to my muttered statement. We're so deep in thought we don't notice the two mermen that swim up to us, tritons in hand and glares etched on their faces.

"You there!" said the one with the green fin. "State your name and who you serve!"

"What?" I ask in confusion. Apparently it's the wrong answer, because the guy with the green fin holds the triton to my neck and the other guy, who has a blue fin, does the same to Kero.

"Sate…your…name…and…who…you…serve," he says, making sure to annunciate each word.

I gulp, but answer his question as best as I can. "M-my name is Kayla, and I serve… King Triton?"

My response turns out to be the right answer, and the merman takes the triton from my neck. The other guy does the same thing with Kero. Obviously they didn't hear the question in my tone, but that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we didn't get killed.

"Glad to hear it," the green-finned guy says with a smile. "I thought we were going to have to arrest another pair of troublemakers. Like those two kids from this morning."

"Wait a second," I say, swimming close to him. He swims back a bit in surprise, tightening his grip on his triton. "You arrested two kids today?"

"I-I," he stutters under my intense stare. He clears his throat before continuing. "I didn't _**want**_ to miss, but they said they didn't serve anyone. The King issued that whoever doesn't say they serve him has to be sent to the palace immediately for questioning."

"Please take me to the palace!" I say, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Alright, alright," he says while taking my hands off of him. "Just follow me."

He swims ahead and I follow close behind. I glance back to see Kero swimming behind me, and the other merman swimming behind him. We swim in a single file for a while, and then the guy in front of me stops.

"Just keep swimming straight ahead and you'll hit the palace," he says while pointing beyond the reefs. "You can't miss it. It's the only palace in the whole ocean."

"Thank you," I say while smiling at him. He nods curtly at me and swims off with the other merman to catch more "trouble makers". I glance back at Kero and I see that he's puffed up.

"Did they scare you?" I ask with a giggle.

"No, what makes you say that?" he asks, looking down at me over his inflated self.

"Well," I start. "I may not know much about fish, but I do know that when a puffer fish inflates, it's because he's scared and trying to intimidate the thing he's afraid of…"

Kero glares at me. "Are we going to go look for this palace or not?"

I giggle one last time before turning back to the reefs. I look back at Kero and wave for him to follow me. I swim as straight as I can for a few more metres and gasp at the sight. The palace looks exactly like it does in the movie. There are five towers all connected by walk ways of some kind. From where I am, there are two small towers off to the right of the three main towers. The tallest obviously has to be in the centre. It _**is**_ beautiful; however I prefer the beauty of the reefs to the majesties of the tower. Why? Because my new found, and most unlikely, friends are trapped in there at this very moment.

"You ready for this?" Kero asks. If I hadn't had the talk I had with him while we were swimming here, I would have thought his question was innocent enough. However, I know what he's really asking.

"_Can I rely on you to face your fears from here on into this uncharted adventure?"_

I take a deep breath and think it through for all of one second. I smile at Kero and grab his fin.

"Come on," I say. "Let's go save those two troublemakers." And with that, we swim together to the palace of the King of the Sea to demand our friends back.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**** Hey guys :D So for those who have been reading both my stories, you may have noticed that I go back and forth between updating this one and the other one. The reason is simple. If I write only one story for a long time, I'll get bored of it and just quit. So this way I go from one story line to another to keep things interesting for myself :) Speaking of interesting, I love all of the story suggestions! I wouldn't have thought of some of them myself so thank you :) but before I get to those ones I have to finish this one! I hope you enjoy this latest installment! Oh I almost forgot, I read on another fanfic that you don't have to put a disclaimer on the stories you post on here because you're not making money off of it so I'm stopping that :P even if my stories get taken down, I'll just upload them again :) Once again, honesty and constructive criticism are most welcome! Now without further delay, here is chapter 6…**

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I wish I could say that I had the _**perfect**_ plan to get my friends out and that it went without a hitch and that we traveled to another world right after. Unfortunately reality is too big of jerk for something to be that easy. Imagine the most stuck up, loud mouthed, snobbish person you can, multiply that by a hundred, and that's how I imagined reality would be in its human form. Especially at this moment…

"Kayla, are you _**sure**_ you know where you're going?" Kero asks as we swim down yet another corridor.

"I think so…" I reply uneasily. I look around the hallway and sigh. Why do all the hallways have to look the same?

"You _**think**_ so?" Kero asks, following behind me as I go down another hall. "You either know where we're going or you don't. Which is it?"

"I'm only temporarily displaced. Give me some time," I reply as I look down another hall when we reach the end of the one we're on.

"Kayla, we've been at this for over an hour already! You've had more than enough time! Just admit that you're lost!"

"Fine, if you want me to say it I will!" I stop in the middle of the hallway and turn to him, making sure to annunciate each of my words loudly and clearly. "_**I**_. _**Don't**_. _**Know**_. _**Where**_. _**We**_. _**Are**_. There! Are you happy now?"

"I thought you said you knew where we were going!" Kero yells back, swimming up closer to me.

"I said I knew what the room _**looked**_ like, not that I knew where it _**was**_," I say. I look around for someone that could give us directions on where we should go, but I don't see anyone. I only see another empty hallway in this never ending maze.

Kero shakes his head which, considering he's a fish, is an impressive task. "Why didn't you accept that mermaid's help when she asked if we needed it?"

I stick my lower lip out in a pout. "I thought I knew where I was going that time…"

Kero shakes his head again. He looks up and I see his eyes brighten at whatever's behind me. I turn to see a small red dot heading our way. Upon closer inspection I see that it's a crab.

"Go ask him where the throne room is!" Kero says while nudging me.

"Hey wait, why do _**I**_ have to go?" I ask, keeping myself planted to my spot.

"You got us _**into**_ this mess! Now go get us _**out**_!" Kero replies, still pushing me from behind.

"Now wait a minute! This is as much your fault as it is mine!" I say, turning back to him.

"_**My**_ fault? How is this _**my**_ fault? You were the one leading us this whole time!"

"Well you followed!"

"Only because I thought you knew where you were going!"

"Yeah, well-"

"Excuse me," I'm cut off by the little red crab as he swims by.

"Oh, sorry," I reply, getting out of his way. "So as I was saying-"

Before I can continue, my brain suddenly clicks and I remember who the crab is. I only know of one crab who speaks with a Jamaican accent.

"Sebastian!" I yell while swimming up to him.

He turns toward me. "Do I know you? Wait, I don't have time for this! I have to see the King!" He swims away quickly.

"Quick," I say while grabbing Kero's fin, getting pricked by one of his stingers. "Ow! He's going to see the King! If we follow him, he'll lead us right to the throne room!"

We tail behind Sebastian, pun totally intended, for about five minutes until I can finally see what I saw whenever I watched the part where Arial, the little mermaid, was getting yelled at by her father. The room has a little circular place with a number of connected arches that seem to be made out of stone surrounding it. In the centre of the circular arches there is an impressive looking throne. The bottom starts out wide and then it goes in in an inward curve. The outsides flare out but the middle continues up and holds a giant shell kind of thing. Sitting on the throne is, in simplest terms, a really buff old guy with a long white beard. If you took away the fin and put him in a red and white suit, he could look like Santa on steroids…

"Your majesty," I hear Sebastian say while bowing. Kero and I stay out of sight and just listen. "I have questioned the two children myself, and it seems that they are of no threat. However, they still insist that they do not serve anyone. In fact, they say they've never heard of you."

"Then they must be lying," King Triton, replies while sitting up straighter and tightening his grip on his seat. I can't help but think that something is missing in this scene, but I can't put my finger on it… "How could they have possibly lived in the sea and not have heard of me? I _**rule**_ over the sea!"

"That's what I said to them," Sebastian says. "But they keep insisting that they're not from here and that they have to find their friends."

King Triton slams his fists on his arm rests. "They are not leaving until they give us some answers!"

The throne room is filled with silence for a good five minutes, and I almost sneeze during that time, but I miraculously stop myself. Then I hear Sebastian sigh.

"My king, I know that you are getting anxious. We will get it back, I swear on it on my life."

"His triton is missing!" I hear someone say loudly.

King Triton turns to our general direction. "Who's there? I command you to show yourself!"

I look at Kero and see him glaring at me. That's when I realize that _**I'm**_ the one who spoke.

"Opps…" I whisper.

"You idiot!" Kero hisses back. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Show yourself!" the King bellows from his throne.

I gulp. "I guess we have to… show ourselves…"

I take a deep breath and hear Kero do the same. Then we walk into the light.

"Who are you?" King Triton asks, as we come into view.

I bow deeply and try and remember how Sebastian spoke to him. "M-my name is Kayla, your Highness, and this is my friend, Kerobaros." I motion to Kero and I'm surprised to see that he's not puffed up. However, the sight of him trying to bow without flipping almost makes me burst out laughing. It takes one look at King Triton to take the laughter right out of me. Let's just say if looks could kill…

I clear my throat. "We are visitor's from a far off… ocean…"

"Who do you serve?" The king asks.

I glance down at my fin and think over my reply carefully. If I word this wrong then we might be joining Sakura and Li in a few minutes, but not in the way we want. "My King… only _**you**_ rule over the seven seas, so I must serve no other…"

I glance up to see if my reply was what he wanted to hear. Since his face has softened some, I take it I said the right thing…

"Good," he says. "Now, may I ask what you are doing here?"

I feel myself relax now that King Triton isn't glaring at me and start to speak more normally, but with respect. "My King, my friend and I are here to retrieve our other friends, a boy and a girl, whom your guards have arrested. I've heard that you have had your Triton stolen and I can assure you that they do not have it…"

"How do you know this?" Sebastian asks, sceptical like always. "What proof do you have for this claim?"

"Your Majesty," Kero says, and I can't help but be impressed with his courage in this situation. "I was travelling with the two others and we had only just arrived today. I was separated from them momentarily, and that's when your guards arrested them."

"If that's so, then where was Kayla?" the king says, his eyes narrowing at me again. My voice gets stuck in my throat and I'm thankful when Kero speaks up for me.

"We were to meet her at the reefs, your Highness, because she'd left later then us."

"Where did you come from?" Sebastian inserts.

I find my voice again and answer. "We come from the eastern seas… it was quite a long journey…" I'm hoping that my last line was right, because Disney never said which sea they lived in, but I assume that this is the pacific ocean… let's just hope I'm right…

"My, that is a long journey," The King replies, and I find myself sighing in relief. "But surely you didn't come all this way just because you heard that my Triton was stolen. After all, most of the merpeople in my kingdom don't know what is going on. Why did you come?"

"Um…" I say while racking my brain for something to say. Then I remember what the merman had said earlier.

"_You can't miss it. It's the only palace in the whole ocean…"_

"We have come to visit your grand Palace," I say with a smile. "It is, after all, the only palace in the ocean and it's the pride and joy to all merpeople far and wide…" I can practically imagine Kero rolling his eyes, I know I'm laying it on quite thick, but I don't have any other option…

"Tourists," I hear Sebastian mutter under his breath and I try and hide my giggle behind my hand.

"Even so," King Triton says. "I cannot allow the prisoners to go free. They lie and say they have not heard of me, when it is clear that they have if they were truly travelling with you. They're also the only lead we have thus far. I'm sorry, but you and Kerobaros will have to continue your journey without them."

"But your highness!" I say in a loud, panicked voice. This plan isn't going as I thought it would, but when I think about leaving them here, with no way of knowing if I'd be able to return for them…

"Please," I continue around the lump in my throat. "I'm begging you, if we continue on our journey without them; we may never see them again… and I've promised that I would return them safely home…"

King Triton sighs and swims down to where we're… standing? Or would it be floating? Anyway, he swims up to us and places one of his hands on my shoulders, and locks eyes with me.

"You remind me so much of my youngest daughter, but I cannot allow them to go free…"

"Then what do we have to do to _**set**_ them free?" I ask.

The King takes his hand from my shoulder and places it under his chin… or where I'd guess it would be. "I suppose if you prove that they are innocent, I could let them go…"

"Then that's what we'll do," I say with conviction. I glance at Kero and see him with the same look I probably have; a look of determination. I turn back to King Triton and ask him one more thing. "Your Majesty, is it possible to see them? I need to know that they are okay…"

He nods and looks at Sebastian, "Sebastian, take these two to see their friends, and then escort them out of the palace." With that, he turns to go sit back on his throne, dismissing us.

"Follow me," I hear Sebastian say from behind me. I turn quickly to see him and Kero waiting for me. I look back at King Triton and bow, mutter a "thank you" and swim after them. We soon find ourselves in the prison end of the palace, and we see two familiar faces behind coral bars.

"Kayla!" Sakura yells when she sees me, and swims up to the bars, arms reaching. I quickly swim to her and embrace her as much as I can with the bars in the way. No matter how brave she is, she's still only a fourteen year old girl in a strange place that she knows nothing about, so I'm not surprised that she's relieved to see me and Kero.

"Are you okay?" I ask when we pull away from each other. I look behind her and nod at Li, who gives me a curt nod back, but it's obvious by the glint in his eyes that he's relived to see us too.

"We're fine," she replies. "Did you find the others?"

I nod. "Yeah, we found them and they're doing alright…" I look to see where Sebastian is, which is by the exit, and then lean in to whisper. "They're still human and their on the surface."

She sighs and looks at us with hope filled eyes. "So you're getting us out of here right? We're leaving now?"

I look away and glance at Kero. He sighs and delivers the bad news.

"It seems that King Triton has lost his Triton and he suspects you two of taking it."

"What?" Li yells angrily. "We just got here!"

"That's what we told him," I say calmly, trying to get him to calm down. "Since you guys didn't seem to know him, he thought you were lying, but we figured out a way to get you two out."

"Well what are you going to do?" they both ask at the same time.

"We have to prove your innocence," Kero replies.

"We don't know how long that's going to take," I add. "But I promise to get you guys out before we continue on with our journey."

They nod solemnly and Li adds, "Then why are you still here? Go meet with the others and form a plan. We'll be fine here!"

Kero and I nod and start to swim to the exit of the prison, where Sebastian is waiting. When we're about to head out, Kero quickly turns back.

"I forgot to ask something, I'll be right back." He has a quick conversation with Sakura and Li and swims back to us. We follow Sebastian to the exit of the palace, and I'm not sure about Kero, but I was trying my best to memorize each and every turn we made. When we're out of the palace, Sebastian turns to us.

"Good luck," he says simply before leaving us behind. We stare after him for about a minute and then start swimming toward the shore we last seen Tori and the others, not saying a word to each other. It wasn't like the awkward silence that we had when we swam here, it was more like we were lost in our own thoughts but we knew we had to get to Tori and the others.

When we finally reached the surface is when we spoke to each other, but we both said the same thing at the same time.

"Where are the others?"

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**End Chapter 6**


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